Sérgio Santos Mendes, pron. IPA: ['sɛxʒiu 'sɐ̃tus 'mẽ'dʒis], (born February… Read Full Bio ↴Sérgio Santos Mendes, pron. IPA: ['sɛxʒiu 'sɐ̃tus 'mẽ'dʒis], (born February 11, 1941 in Niterói, Brazil) is a Grammy Award-winning Brazilian musician. He has released over thirty-five albums, and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk.
Mendes is married to the singer Gracinha Leporace who regularly performs vocals alongside Mendes and can be heard on his 2006 version of the song Mas Que Nada with the Black Eyed Peas.
Early career
The child of a physician in Niterói, Brazil, Mendes attended the local conservatory with hopes of becoming a classical pianist. As his interest in jazz grew, he started playing in nightclubs in the late-1950s just as bossa nova, a jazz-inflected derivative of samba, was taking off. Mendes played with Antônio Carlos Jobim (whom he regarded as a mentor) and many U.S. jazz musicians who toured Brazil.
Mendes formed the Sexteto Bossa Rio and recorded Dance Moderno in 1961. Touring Europe and the United States, Mendes recorded albums with Cannonball Adderley and Herbie Mann and played Carnegie Hall. Mendes moved to the U.S. in 1964 and cut two albums under the Brasil '65 group name with Capitol Records and Atlantic Records.
Brasil '66
When sales were tepid, he replaced his Brazilian born vocalist Wanda de Sa with the distinctive voice of Chicago native Lani Hall (who learned Mendes' Portuguese material phonetically), switched to Herb Alpert's A&M label, and released Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66, an album that went platinum based largely on the success of the single "Mas Que Nada" (a Jorge Ben cover) and the personal support of Alpert, with whom Mendes toured regularly.
The original lineup of Brasil '66 was Mendes (piano), vocalists Lani Hall and Janis Hansen, Bob Matthews (bass), Jose Soares (percussion), and Joao Palma (drums). John Pisano guested as guitarist. This lineup recorded three albums between 1966-1968 (including the best-selling Look Around LP), before there was a major personnel change for their fourth album Fool on the Hill.
Karen Philipp replaced Hansen as the second female vocalist, while veteran drummer Dom Um Romão teamed with Rubens Bassini to assume percussionist duties. Sebastiao Neto was the new bassist and Oscar Castro-Neves the guitarist. This lineup had a more orchestral and big band sound than their predecessors. Most significantly, in the early 1970s, lead singer Hall pursued a solo career and became Alpert's second wife. Some accounts claim that Mendes was upset with Alpert for years for "stealing" Hall away from his group.
Though his early singles with Brasil '66 (most notably "Mas Que Nada") met with some success, Mendes really burst into mainstream prominence when he performed the Oscar-nominated Burt Bacharach and Hal David song The Look of Love on the Academy Awards telecast in April 1968. Brasil '66's version of the song quickly shot into the top 10, peaking at #4, and eclipsing Dusty Springfield's version from the soundtrack of the movie, Casino Royale. Mendes spent the rest of 1968 enjoying consecutive top 10 and top 20 hits with his follow-up singles, "The Fool on the Hill" and "Scarborough Fair". From 1968 on, Mendes was arguably the biggest Brazilian star in the world, enjoying immense popularity worldwide and performing in venues as varied as stadium arenas and the White House, where he gave concerts for both Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.
Middle career
Mendes' career in the U.S. stalled in the mid-1970s, but he remained very popular in South America and Japan. His two albums with Bell Records in 1973 and 1974, followed by several for Elektra from 1975 on, found Mendes continuing to mine the best in American pop music and post-bossa writers of his native Brazil, while forging new directions in soul with collaborators like Stevie Wonder, who wrote Mendes' R&B-inflected minor hit, "The Real Thing".
In 1983, he rejoined Alpert's A&M records and enjoyed huge success with a self-titled album and several follow-up albums, all of which received considerable adult contemporary airplay with charting singles. "Never Gonna Let You Go", featuring vocals by Joe Pizzulo and Leza Miller, equalled the success of his 1968 single "The Look of Love" by reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; it also spent four weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart. In 1984, Mendes worked with singer Lani Hall again.
By the time Mendes released his Grammy-winning Elektra album Brasileiro in 1992, he was the undisputed master of pop-inflected Brazilian jazz. The late-1990s lounge music revival brought retrospection and respect to Mendes' oeuvre, particularly the classic Brasil '66 albums. His stature in his native Brazil is reflected by "Cantor de Mambo", a song by fellow Brazilians Os Mutantes, which they regularly dedicate to Mendes in concert.
Later career
Timeless features a wide array of neo-soul and alternative hip hop guest artists, most prominently will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas. It was released February 14, 2006 by Concord Records.
The album features the Black Eyed Peas, Erykah Badu, Black Thought, Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, India.Arie, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Q-Tip, Stevie Wonder and Pharoahe Monch.
The 2006 re-recorded version of "Mas que Nada" with the Black Eyed Peas had additional vocals by Gracinha Leporace (Mendes' wife); a version that is included on his album Timeless. In Brazil, the song is pretty well-known for being the theme song for the local television channel Globo's Estrelas.
The Black Eyed Peas' version also contains a sample of their 2004 hit "Hey Mama". The re-recorded song became popular on many European charts. On the UK Singles Chart, the song entered at #29 and rose to and peaked at #6 on its second week on the chart.
Official website of Sérgio Mendes: http://www.sergiomendesmusic.com
Mendes is married to the singer Gracinha Leporace who regularly performs vocals alongside Mendes and can be heard on his 2006 version of the song Mas Que Nada with the Black Eyed Peas.
Early career
The child of a physician in Niterói, Brazil, Mendes attended the local conservatory with hopes of becoming a classical pianist. As his interest in jazz grew, he started playing in nightclubs in the late-1950s just as bossa nova, a jazz-inflected derivative of samba, was taking off. Mendes played with Antônio Carlos Jobim (whom he regarded as a mentor) and many U.S. jazz musicians who toured Brazil.
Mendes formed the Sexteto Bossa Rio and recorded Dance Moderno in 1961. Touring Europe and the United States, Mendes recorded albums with Cannonball Adderley and Herbie Mann and played Carnegie Hall. Mendes moved to the U.S. in 1964 and cut two albums under the Brasil '65 group name with Capitol Records and Atlantic Records.
Brasil '66
When sales were tepid, he replaced his Brazilian born vocalist Wanda de Sa with the distinctive voice of Chicago native Lani Hall (who learned Mendes' Portuguese material phonetically), switched to Herb Alpert's A&M label, and released Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66, an album that went platinum based largely on the success of the single "Mas Que Nada" (a Jorge Ben cover) and the personal support of Alpert, with whom Mendes toured regularly.
The original lineup of Brasil '66 was Mendes (piano), vocalists Lani Hall and Janis Hansen, Bob Matthews (bass), Jose Soares (percussion), and Joao Palma (drums). John Pisano guested as guitarist. This lineup recorded three albums between 1966-1968 (including the best-selling Look Around LP), before there was a major personnel change for their fourth album Fool on the Hill.
Karen Philipp replaced Hansen as the second female vocalist, while veteran drummer Dom Um Romão teamed with Rubens Bassini to assume percussionist duties. Sebastiao Neto was the new bassist and Oscar Castro-Neves the guitarist. This lineup had a more orchestral and big band sound than their predecessors. Most significantly, in the early 1970s, lead singer Hall pursued a solo career and became Alpert's second wife. Some accounts claim that Mendes was upset with Alpert for years for "stealing" Hall away from his group.
Though his early singles with Brasil '66 (most notably "Mas Que Nada") met with some success, Mendes really burst into mainstream prominence when he performed the Oscar-nominated Burt Bacharach and Hal David song The Look of Love on the Academy Awards telecast in April 1968. Brasil '66's version of the song quickly shot into the top 10, peaking at #4, and eclipsing Dusty Springfield's version from the soundtrack of the movie, Casino Royale. Mendes spent the rest of 1968 enjoying consecutive top 10 and top 20 hits with his follow-up singles, "The Fool on the Hill" and "Scarborough Fair". From 1968 on, Mendes was arguably the biggest Brazilian star in the world, enjoying immense popularity worldwide and performing in venues as varied as stadium arenas and the White House, where he gave concerts for both Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.
Middle career
Mendes' career in the U.S. stalled in the mid-1970s, but he remained very popular in South America and Japan. His two albums with Bell Records in 1973 and 1974, followed by several for Elektra from 1975 on, found Mendes continuing to mine the best in American pop music and post-bossa writers of his native Brazil, while forging new directions in soul with collaborators like Stevie Wonder, who wrote Mendes' R&B-inflected minor hit, "The Real Thing".
In 1983, he rejoined Alpert's A&M records and enjoyed huge success with a self-titled album and several follow-up albums, all of which received considerable adult contemporary airplay with charting singles. "Never Gonna Let You Go", featuring vocals by Joe Pizzulo and Leza Miller, equalled the success of his 1968 single "The Look of Love" by reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; it also spent four weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart. In 1984, Mendes worked with singer Lani Hall again.
By the time Mendes released his Grammy-winning Elektra album Brasileiro in 1992, he was the undisputed master of pop-inflected Brazilian jazz. The late-1990s lounge music revival brought retrospection and respect to Mendes' oeuvre, particularly the classic Brasil '66 albums. His stature in his native Brazil is reflected by "Cantor de Mambo", a song by fellow Brazilians Os Mutantes, which they regularly dedicate to Mendes in concert.
Later career
Timeless features a wide array of neo-soul and alternative hip hop guest artists, most prominently will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas. It was released February 14, 2006 by Concord Records.
The album features the Black Eyed Peas, Erykah Badu, Black Thought, Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, India.Arie, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Q-Tip, Stevie Wonder and Pharoahe Monch.
The 2006 re-recorded version of "Mas que Nada" with the Black Eyed Peas had additional vocals by Gracinha Leporace (Mendes' wife); a version that is included on his album Timeless. In Brazil, the song is pretty well-known for being the theme song for the local television channel Globo's Estrelas.
The Black Eyed Peas' version also contains a sample of their 2004 hit "Hey Mama". The re-recorded song became popular on many European charts. On the UK Singles Chart, the song entered at #29 and rose to and peaked at #6 on its second week on the chart.
Official website of Sérgio Mendes: http://www.sergiomendesmusic.com
Tristeza
Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá...
Tristeza
Por favor vai embora
A minha alma que chora
Está vendo o meu fim...
Fez do meu coração
A sua moradia
Já é demais o meu penar
Quero voltar aquela
Vida de alegria
Quero de novo cantar...
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá...
Tristeza
Por favor vai embora
A minha alma que chora
Está vendo o meu fim...
Fez do meu coração
A sua moradia
Já é demais o meu penar
Quero voltar aquela
Vida de alegria
Quero de novo cantar...
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá.
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá...
Tristeza
A minha alma que chora
Está vendo o meu fim...
Fez do meu coração
A sua moradia
Já é demais o meu penar
Quero voltar aquela
Vida de alegria
Quero de novo cantar...
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá...
Tristeza
Por favor vai embora
A minha alma que chora
Está vendo o meu fim...
Fez do meu coração
A sua moradia
Já é demais o meu penar
Quero voltar aquela
Vida de alegria
Quero de novo cantar...
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Lalalá Lalalalalá.
The lyrics to Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66's song Tristeza highlight the overwhelming sorrow and heartache caused by a lost love. The song opens with a repeating melody of "Lalalá Lalalalalá," creating a sense of helplessness and despair. The first verse pleads for the source of the pain, personified as Tristeza or sadness, to leave and stop causing so much agony. The second verse reveals that Tristeza has taken up residence in the singer's heart, and that the suffering has become too much to bear. The singer longs to return to a life of happiness and joy, where they can sing once again.
The repetition of the refrain serves to emphasize the desire for the pain to go away. The use of "Lalalá" also adds to the feeling of hopelessness, as the singer struggles to even put their feelings into words. Ultimately, the song speaks to the universal experience of heartbreak and the longing for happiness once again.
Line by Line Meaning
Tristeza
Sadness
Por favor vai embora
Please go away
A minha alma que chora
My weeping soul
Está vendo o meu fim...
Sees my demise
Fez do meu coração
Made my heart
A sua moradia
Your dwelling place
Já é demais o meu penar
My sufferings are too much
Quero voltar aquela
I want to return to that
Vida de alegria
Life of joy
Quero de novo cantar...
I want to sing again
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Instrumental
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Instrumental
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Instrumental
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Instrumental
Lalalá Lalalalalá
Instrumental
Lalalá Lalalalalá...
Instrumental
Writer(s): Niltinho, Haroldo Lobo
Contributed by Wyatt V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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@peterserbian6556
When I was a kid living in hawaii back in the mid 60's they were all over the radio, thanx for the memories!!
@noemisanchez7272
Vamos mi gente bonita Noemi gracias vamos you tube
@noemisanchez7272
Ánimo a todos mi gente bonita Vamos con todo somos Guerrero de mil batallas Gracias vamos YouTube
@noemisanchez7272
Ánimo mi gente
@vanessakellysalazarreyes6825
BELLISSIMO TEMA VIVA BRASIL SALUDOS DO PERU
@jordycamargo734
Tristeza
Por favor vai embora
A minha alma que chora
Está vendo o meu fim
Fez do meu coração
A sua moradia
Já é demais o meu penar
Quero voltar aquela
Vida de alegria
Quero de novo cantar
@jorgeortega5728
Muito obrigado!! Desde criança eu gosto dessa linda música!!!! Saudaçoes dum amigo Mexicano que gosta bastante da cultura brasileira, MPB,Bossa Nova,boas caipirinhas rsrsrs e da linda língua Portuguesa de Brasil :-)
@MrAurelius77
sergio mendes one of the best artists of popular music.pure rythmn.
@karlmedina6056
He's the reason I'm learning Portuguese: the most beautiful, romantic and joyous language of them all!
@sulkygrrl
This is what I feel like singing when I'm with my boyfriend :) Pure joy!